


Hollow Wars

by hannahbobana



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23787436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahbobana/pseuds/hannahbobana
Summary: Doe Meadowes saw it all. Death, pain, and sacrifice. But she could stop it, she could save them all, she could save The Wizarding World. Heavy AU.
Kudos: 1





	1. Doe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is an idea that came to me during isolation life. A fix-it fic of sorts, based on the idea that Voldemort could have been defeated during the First Wizarding War.

_And with a final thud, the boy with the lightning scar and the weight of the world on his shoulders fell to the floor. Dead._

Gasping, Doe shot upright in bed, her heart pounding as she struggled to catch her breath. Blinking furiously she put her fingertips to her face, looking at them strangely when they came away wet. Tears, she realised. She was crying. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on what she had just seen. It had been years and years of war. Of fear, torture and murder. A boy, with black hair and familiar green eyes who carried a scar on his forehead. His parents murdered young and he left to be raised in the Muggle World. Familiar parents. Lily Evans and James Potter, two Gryffindors in her year who, as far as she knew, hated each other with a fiery passion. Well, at the least, Evans hated Potter. And there were others she recognised. Remus Lupin, older and also dead. Sirius Black, imprisoned and then gone. Marlene McKinnon, murdered. The Prewett brothers, murdered. Benjy Fenwick, a Gryffindor in seventh-year, murdered. And Dorcas Meadowes, Doe herself, murdered personally by Lord Voldemort before she hit her 21st birthday. Could it be real? It had seemed too real. Years condensed into one night of terror.

Already, she could feel the memories fading, slipping in their clarity. Frantically, she opened the curtains to her four-poster, being careful not to disturb her roommates, and grabbed an empty notebook she had stashed in her bedside draws. With it, she found a muggle pen she had smuggled into the school, and uncapping it clumsily she tried to write it all down.

Lord Voldemort, he had had a name, hadn’t he? But she just couldn’t find it. The first thing lost. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, it was gone, what she had seen. All she knew was that people would die, kids like her, in both her future and the next-generations, if she didn’t try and stop it.

The thought hit her out of nowhere and she jerked upright, shocked at herself. If she didn’t stop it? Who did she think she was?

She was no one special. Doe Meadowes, fifth-year Hufflepuff, the quiet half-blood who kept to herself. Not a brave bone in her body. Then it hit her quite suddenly, Professor Dumbledore would help her. He would know what was going on, whether it was just a terrible dream, or a dreadful warning. Sighing heavily, she put the notebook back in her draws and curled back under the covers. It was still so early and she had hours before she needed to be up.

“I’ll see Professor Dumbledore tomorrow,” she whispered to herself. “After I’ve slept. Maybe it’ll all be clearer.”

Settling back into her pillows, she tucked her legs up into her chest and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for sleep to come back to her.

* * *

It didn’t seem like too much time had passed before Doe was woken by movement in the dorm room. Groggily, she opened her eyes and yawned, stretching herself out as she got out of bed. Around her, her dorm mates were getting themselves ready for the day, chatting as they did so.

“Lottie, have you got my yellow hair slide?” Sylvie Fawcett called out from the bathroom.

Lottie, Charlotte Andrews, looked around her space for a moment before brightening and brandishing the aforementioned hair slide in the air triumphantly. “Got it!”

Sylvie popped out of the bathroom and took it, thanking Lottie with a quick hug. She noticed Doe then, just finishing up the buttons on her school shirt and beamed brightly. “Morning Doe!” she called, waving enthusiastically.

Doe waved back, “Morning,” she said quietly, unable to resist the sincerity of her roommate as she flounced back into the bathroom.

“Morning, Doe,” Lottie said to her, just as kindly. From her side, Arabella Jones smiled at her too. It seemed their last roommate, day-dreaming Pandora, had already left for breakfast.

“Do you want to walk with us to breakfast?” Sylvie asked as she came from the bathroom, swinging her bag onto her shoulder.

“I’ll meet you down there,” Doe said, tugging on her hair. “I need to sort this mess out.” It seemed that all of her tossing and turning had knotted up her usually manageable dark hair.

“Yes, I can see it is a tad messy today,” Lottie said with a grin. “We’ll save you a seat,” she said as the girls exited the dorm and out into the common room.

Doe watched them go, smiling fondly. She was not particularly close with her roommates, kind as they were, but even so, they did their best to make her feel included in their activities. The truth was, Doe was not very good at making friends with people. Marlene McKinnon, a Gryffindor in her year had once described her as being more timid than a porlock in a new field. That had stung a bit, but she had let it brush over her, content in living on the outskirts, staying out of the way as best she could. Her mother had warned her years ago that drawing too much attention to herself could be a problem.

Finally ready, having untangled her hair and piling it into a loose bun on the top of her head, she headed down into the Common Room, which was empty. Everyone else must already be at breakfast, she realised. Hopefully she’d be able to sneak in quietly and without commotion. As she made her way up towards the Great Hall she thought on the dream she had had. Well, nightmare, she supposed. It was growing more and more hazy as time passed and she thanked her lucky stars she had written down what she had been able to remember. That notebook sat in her book bag now, nestled in tightly between her favourite copy of Pride and Prejudice and Hogwarts: A History. It should be safe enough there, she figured, at least until she could go see Professor Dumbledore. Like she had predicted, the Great Hall was full when she made her way through the doors, and thankfully loud enough that her late entrance didn’t draw any eyes.

Suddenly, her name was being called over the cacophony of noise and Sylvie’s hand was waving madly in the air. “Doe!” she cried. “Over here, Doe!”

Doe winced a little at the attention, shrinking into herself as eyes turned to her in the doorway. Thankfully, a sudden commotion over at the Gryffindor table distracted everyone and Doe was free to hurry towards her housemates.

“Thanks Sylvie,” she said gratefully as the other girl slid over to fit her in.

“Can you believe them?” Arabella huffed indignantly, glaring over at the Gryffindor table through narrowed eyes.

As everyone turned to look, Doe realised she was talking about the so-called Marauders. A group of four fifth-year Gryffindors who made it their life’s mission to prank the general population of Hogwarts something awful. They were ridiculously popular, evidenced by the way Sylvie and Lottie sighed dreamily in their direction.

“Sirius Black is so gorgeous,” Sylvie sighed, “I’m so pleased we have some classes with the Gryffindors this year.”

“As long as they don’t distract from our O.W.L.S, I’ll be fine,” Arabella grumbled.

“Oh, you’re just sore that they beat us in Quidditch last year,” Lottie giggled.

“I just don’t know how Potter could have possibly got that last quaffle past me!” Arabella exploded. “It’s just ridiculous!”

Arabella was the Keeper on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and had not been pleased when they had been knocked out of the finals by a last minute goal from James Potter.

“And that Black is just so arrogant,” she continued, scowling over at them now. “You know he asked out Hestia last year? She was a seventh-year and he thought he had a chance!”

“What do you think, Doe?” Lottie asked, turning to Doe who choked on the kipper she had just put in her mouth.

Hurriedly, she swallowed, and reached for her goblet of pumpkin juice. “Sorry,” she said, “What was that?”

“Potter and Black? What do you think of them?” she asked impatiently.

“Oh, well, I suppose they’re okay,” she said slowly. “Potter’s quite good at Transfiguration, and they’re both good Quidditch players.”

Arabella groaned, letting her head sink to the table.

“Sorry,” Doe said, wide-eyed.

Sylvie and Lottie burst into giggles, leaning into each other as Arabella mumbled under her breath.

“You’re very good at Quidditch too, Arabella, I’m always quite impressed when you play,” Doe went on, hoping that the other girl would lift her head.

No such luck, instead, if anything, the grumbling grew louder. However, before she could give it much more thought, the owls flew through the Great Hall, and Bingley, her mother’s tawny was landing in front of her.

“Thanks, Bing,” she murmured, slipping him a treat as she took the letter. He nipped at her fingers affectionately before flying off.

Unravelling the letter, she smiled as she read through her mother’s stories from the past week.

_Dearest Doe,_

_Your father and I miss you very much, my darling. It’s only been a week and already we are absolutely bored to death without you here. And on top of you leaving your poor mother behind, your father’s gone and got himself a promotion at the Ministry. He is now working directly under Alastor Moody, which he is enjoying greatly although I am not quite as pleased._

_I hope your first week hasn’t been too awful, O.W.L.S are just dreadful, I absolutely hated mine. But I trust you to keep working hard and stay focused. If you need anything, let us know. And try to join a study group or something, Doe, a few close friends to see over the holidays wouldn’t be so bad, would it?_

_Stay safe, be good, and we’ll see you at Christmas._

_All our love,_

_Mum and Dad_

_P.S, Doe, your mother’s being dramatic. She’s not alone as nearly as much as she would have you think. She and Mrs. Prewett from over the hill have begun a weekly game of poker that they don’t think I know about._

_Love you, be safe Dad_

Doe snorted at her mother’s dramatics, imagining clearly the self-satisfied smile she would have on her delicate face. Her father too, would be beside her, rolling his eyes at his wife’s antics. They were just as playful with each other now, after seventeen years of marriage as they had been when they met in Hogwarts.

“Something funny, Doe?” a new voice asked her, and she turned to see Henry Pickett, a boy in her year, smiling at her.

“Just my mum,” she said, “She’s a tad dramatic.”

He nodded understandingly. “Yes, mine too,” he laughed. “Funny, aren’t they, mums?”

Doe smiled in agreement, before once again, someone called her name. She turned around, in utter shock at the impossibility that so many people would want to speak to her in one morning. And there, coming towards her, was Gideon Prewett, the son of the woman her mother was now gambling with. Doe felt her face redden and her heart pound.

“Wotcher Doe,” he said pleasantly, coming to a stop in front of her. Her dorm mates and the other Hufflepuffs around them stopped what they were doing and watched the two in interest.

“Hi, Gideon, uh, how are you?”

“Great, Doe, thanks. Listen, I was chatting to Hagrid and he mentioned that you had a great book on Hippogriffs, I’m basing an extra-credit project on them and wanted to ask if I could borrow if?”

“Oh,” she said, quite surprised. It was rare that Gideon Prewett needed something from anyone else when it came to magical creatures. “Sure, I can bring it to dinner, if you’d like?”

“That’d be great, thanks Doe,” Gideon said, smiling so brightly Doe felt like she was going to faint, “I’ll catch up with you later?” he said, waving as he turned and headed back to his brother at the Gryffindor table.

Doe blinked at the table in front of her for just a moment until she came too, Sylvie whispering eagerly in her ear. “I didn’t know you liked Gideon?” she hissed, her eyes bright and excited.

“No, no,” she tried to protest. “I don’t, I don’t really know him.”

“Nonsense,” Lottie added, just as excited. “Look at you blushing, and you got all tongue-tied and nervous. I’ve never seen you like that before,” she giggled.

Feeling the heat creeping back into her cheeks, Doe forced a laugh as she quickly drained her goblet. Standing quickly, she sprung away from the table. “Would you look at that, better get a move on or I’ll be late for Potions,” she said awkwardly as she rushed away from the table, ignoring the calls of the girls behind her.

* * *

Heading down into the dungeons alone was always a daunting experience as the usually well-lit castle dimmed and the corridors grew cold and damp. Usually, she would try and tail the others in her class but in her haste to escape her own embarrassment she had left her year mates behind. Finally, she came to the Potions classroom and was pleased to see she would not be waiting on her own. Potions was one of the classes they shared with the Gryffindors, and it seemed the fifth-year girls had had the same idea as Doe. Lily Evans stood with her friends Mary and Marlene, chatting quietly. As she caught sight of the girls laughing face and the way her dark red hair swung around in her mirth, Doe felt a sharp pain in her chest.

_Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -_

Doe stumbled as the memory of those voices reappeared. The terror, the pain, the hopelessness. James Potter lying dead, Lily Evans dead. A baby left all alone. Merlin, this couldn’t just be a dream, it was too, too much for it to just be a dream.

“Meadowes, you okay?” Doe realised she had faltered and was leaning heavily on the wall. The Gryffindor girls were looking at her strangely. Mary MacDonald was the one who had spoken, her dark eyes scanning Doe as she blinked at them blearily.

“Yes, yes I’m fine. Sorry,” she said.

“You sure?” Mary said, walking towards her. “You look a bit pale.”

“Paler than usual anyway,” Marlene McKinnon chimed in, giggling to herself. Both Mary and Lily rolled their eyes at their friend.

“Mary’s right, Meadowes, you don’t look well,” Lily said, stepping forward with her hand outstretched as though to press it to Doe’s forehead.

Doe pushed herself off the wall and away from the others. “I’m fine, I promise, just a poor night’s sleep, you know?” She tried to smile but knew it came off as more of a pained grimace.

“As long as you’re sure, we can always tell Slughorn where you are if you need to go to the Hospital Wing,” Lily offered kindly.

“I’m sure, thanks though,” Doe assured them.

She was thankfully spared any more of an interrogation by the arrival of the rest of the class, lead by two very loud boys. James Potter and Sirius Black were laughing uproariously as they came down the corridor, their friend Remus Lupin behind them looking on fondly, while their fourth Peter Pettigrew looked up at them in admiration. Doe couldn’t explain it but the second she saw Pettigrew a wave of burning anger flooded her body. She caught herself curling her lip at the boy and glaring furiously before she shook herself out of it, utterly confused. She hadn’t ever felt angry like that before. Let alone at someone she didn’t even know. She couldn’t recall a time where she had even spoken to the poor sod.

“Evans!” James Potter’s boisterous voice rang out, his eyes bright as he caught sight of Lily. “You didn’t wait for me to walk you,” he teased, winking showily.

_Lily, take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off –_

This time she did feel herself falling, a quiet groan leaving her mouth involuntarily as she sagged against the cold stone. Lily started towards her, eyes wide and concerned. The group approaching them had stopped too and were watching her strangely.

“Doe, are you okay?” Sylvie pushed her way forward, coming to stand beside Doe and resting a careful hand on her waist.

“Can you – I think I need to go to the Hospital Wing,” Doe said breathlessly. “Can you tell Slughorn?”

“Lottie and Arabella will,” Sylvie said. Doe looked at her and was rather concerned to see the blur that her face had become, her curly hair fading.

In fact, everything around her was fading. Dimly, she could hear frantic voices.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, she was fine this morning!”

“She looks rather peaky –”

“Ruddy hell, someone catch her!”

Doe felt a pair of arms encircle her and lower her gently to the ground, seeing a pair of sharp dark eyes looking into hers, concerned, before she succumbed to the black surrounding her.


	2. Of Friends

When Doe came to she was very much taken aback to find herself tucked into a bed in the Hospital Wing. She blinked furiously, happy to find her vision restored to normal as she took in the white room. None of the other beds were occupied, and judging by the sun streaming through the windows it was around noon. She groaned. Second week of the new term and already she was going to be behind.

“Miss Meadowes, happy to see you awake,” Madam Pomfrey said briskly as she appeared in Doe’s bedside. “Now, how are you feeling?”

“Uh, okay,” Doe said slowly, taking stock of her body. “My head hurts a little.”

Madam Pomfrey hummed. “To be expected. You fainted outside the Potions classroom.”

Doe groaned again. “Did everyone see?”

“I wouldn’t know, Miss Meadowes, I wasn’t there. Nor do I much care,” she said dryly, though Doe could see a small smile on her face.

That meant yes, everyone had seen. Which meant it would be all over the school.

“Forget all that now, dear, I need you to take this potion and then I’d like you to rest here for a few hours.”

Doe eyes the smoking potion distastefully, “I feel fine,” she protested. “I’d really rather go to class. I don’t want to fall behind.”

“Miss Meadowes, you fainted. I can’t just let you leave after that.”

“Please,” Doe pleaded. “Please, Madame Pomfrey. I promise I’ll come back if I don’t feel well.”

Madame Pomfrey sighed in resignation. “I know that look, I had it from your father more than once,” she said. Doe grinned triumphantly, though made a note to ask her dad about it when she next wrote. “Take the potion and sit for ten minutes. You’ll make lunch and may attend your afternoon classes.”

“Thank you, Madame Pomfrey!”

“Yes, well, it is very important that if you feel anything amiss you come straight back here, do you understand?”

Doe nodded furiously in agreement, pinching her nose as she swallowed the potion Madame Pomfrey gave to her, fighting not to gag on the ghastly taste.

“Ten minutes,” Madame Pomfrey reminded her sternly before sweeping away into her office and leaving Doe to her wait time.

Doe shifted so she was sitting up tall, her legs dangling over the edge of the bed. She frowned and tried to think back to the hallway. What had she been remembering? It was just like when she had woken up that morning, she knew it was something important, vital, and she still had vague glimpses in her memory but they were fading fast. Remembering the notebook in her bag she swooped down and grabbed it, scribbling down everything she could remember. When she was done she frowned down at the disorganised mess. She doubted she’d even be able to make enough sense of it to take to Dumbledore at this rate. Doe started to second guess her plan. Maybe she should keep this to herself, and hope it was a once off, a freak dream that she could put to the back of her mind and forget all about it. Yes, she told herself finally, it was weird, sure, but she was a witch. Her whole life was weird. Last year Amos Diggory’s nose had been turned into a turnip. The dream was nothing. And the episode in the hallway was just leftover, and she had fainted because she really hadn’t slept well the night before. Perfectly rational explanation.

“Right then,” she said to herself quietly. “All settled.” Jumping off the bed she tucked the notebook back into her bag and swung it over her shoulder, walking swiftly out of the Hospital Wing, suddenly starving.

* * *

The corridors were empty as she passed through them but for the odd student dotted here or there, and Doe assumed most students would be at lunch. Finally reaching the Great Hall, she snuck through the doors, thankful that no one noticed her come in. Looking over to the Hufflepuff table she spotted her dorm mates and headed over.

“Hey,” she said quietly as she took a seat next to Arabella, much to their open-mouthed surprise.

“Doe?”

“Why aren’t you in the Hospital Wing?” Lottie asked, shocked.

Doe shrugged. “Madame Pomfrey said I was fine.”

Arabella raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Pomfrey made me stay in for three days last year when I got knocked out during Quidditch.”

“A mild fainting spell is not quite on the same level as a bludger to the head,” Doe said loftily.

“Mild!” Arabella scoffed.

“Lily Evans said you couldn’t stand before we all got there,” Sylvie said worriedly, cutting her friend off from the tirade she was gearing herself up for.

“Honestly, I’m fine,” she tried to assure them. “I didn’t sleep very well and it was stuffy down there. Madame Pomfrey wouldn’t have let me go if she thought I was going to cark it.”

“Forget about Pomfrey,” Lottie interrupted, her eyes gleaming. “Sirius Black carried you to the Hospital Wing!”

She and Sylvie watched her giddily, practically bouncing in their seats from excitement. Arabella frowned. “That was nice of him, I suppose,” Doe said slowly, looking between the two girls.

“Nice!,” Lottie exploded. “It wasn’t just nice, it was chivalrous –“

“ – And brave –” Sylvie added excitedly.

“ – And completely heroic,” they both finished dreamily.

Doe’s eyes were wide as the two girls devolved into tittering giggles that reminded her of the birds in the yard at home.

“Ignore them,” Arabella said, rolling her eyes. “They’ve both been mad for him since third year. Not that he’s ever spoken to either of them.”

“Right,” said Doe. “Well, what did happen? And did everyone see?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Arabella said, bluntly. Something that Doe rather appreciated about her. “When we got there you looked rather ill, and Evans was panicking something awful. Next thing we know you’re just about keeled over. If Black hadn’t of caught you, you would have cracked your head open.”

“I suppose I should thank him then.”

Arabella pulled a face. “If you do it’s just going to inflate his already bloated ego. I say just leave it and forget all about it.”

“That’s rather rude, don’t you think?”

“Nobody ever said a Hufflepuff can’t be rude a time or two,” she said loftily.

“Okay then, what about kindness and fairness then? Surely it isn’t very kind or fair to let him think I’m ungrateful for his help?” Doe said, laughing a little at Arabella’s stubbornness.

She waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Do what you like, I suppose, but don’t be surprised when he turns around to be a total berk.”

“If it happens, I’ll find someone else to complain to, don’t worry,” Doe agreed, finally taking a bite of her sandwich.

She ate quickly and quietly, content to listen to the chatter around her, which was thankfully not centered on her. Sylvie and Lottie were still gushing over Black, though had now included Potter in the mix, and had roped in a couple of the sixth-years across the table. Arabella had refused to partake, getting up and going to find Sean Flynn, Hufflepuff Quidditch captain and was talking his ear off, no doubt about when practice would start. Not that he looked too bothered by that, Doe noticed, staring at Arabella somewhat misty eyed. All in all, it was such a normal half-hour that she forgot all about the events of that morning, completely reassuring her that she did not in fact have to go and see Dumbledore as it was truly just a dream.

As the lunch break came to an end, Doe waited for her room mates, not quite fancying another solo walk around the castle. It was rather nice, she thought, to have Arabella at her side as they made their way up to the Transfiguration Department. Lottie and Sylvie were ahead chatting happily to one another as they went. When they came to the classroom, Doe faltered, unsure of whether to find a seat on her own as she had done in previous years, or sit with the three girls, her mother’s words about friends echoing in her mind. Her decision was made for her, however, when Arabella sat down in the desks behind Lottie and Sylvie and waved Doe to the open seat next to her.

“Thank, Merlin,” she said as Doe took her seat. “If I had to go another term with Bertie Higgins as my desk partner I would have cursed off my own toes.”

Bertie Higgins was a rather lanky young man in their house who had the misfortune to smell faintly of boiled cabbage at all times.

“I wonder where Pandora is,” Doe wondered. “She’s usually here before all of us.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard?” Arabella said, leaning in closer. “Pandora found herself a boyfriend,” she let out an uncharacteristic giggle. “That Lovegood bloke in Ravenclaw,” she mimed a pair of large round glasses.

Immediately, he sprung to mind. A sixth-year who was known for his eccentricities and love of magical creatures, no matter that half of the ones he talked about were complete nonsense. He and Pandora, with her dreamy state, would make a rather good couple.

“So she’s off with him, is she?”

“I suppose so,” Arabella said, distracted by something on her desk. “Here, would you look at this? Is that someone’s name scratched into the table?”

Doe was interrupted from taking a look by the arrival of their Slytherin counterparts. The Hufflepuff’s shared more classes with Slytherin than any of the other houses, which no doubt had something to do with Hufflepuff’s reputation for being particularly patient. A lot of the Slytherin lot were known to be a bit incendiary. Which proved quite chaotic whenever they were in close contact with the Gryffindors.

She avoided looking at the door as they swanned in, all of them looking far too put together for a lesson. Slytherin house was interesting. Most of them were pure-bloods who could go back generations with their geneology, and all of them loved to remind the rest of the school of that fact. They gave off an air of good breeding and impeccable manners, but were scathing and cruel in their attacks on those they thought lesser.

Which brought Doe to the issue she was currently facing as Evan Rosier locked eyes on her. She knew the exact moment he had seen her because it was the exact moment her stomach fell to her feet.

“Heard you fainted this morning, Meadowes,” he said mockingly as he passed by her table, leaning against the edge. “Must be all that muggle blood weighing you down.”

Doe stiffened. Around her, her fellow Hufflepuff’s fell quiet. Arabella screeched in indignation.“Sod off, Rosier,” Henry Pickett called across the room, his voice tight.

Evan’s friends laughed behind their hands. “Calm down, Pickett,” he said lightly. “It’s only to be expected after all, tainting such good stock with scum, it’s the world trying to right itself.”

Doe knew what he was getting at and she grit her teeth. Her father was a muggle-born. A brilliant wizard, he had been Head Boy in his time, an accomplished dueler, and popular with his classmates. He was so very impressive in fact that her muggle-born father caught the attention of her mother, Helena Selwyn. Only daughter of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Selwyn’s. Helena Selwyn whose betrothal to a carefully selected pure-blooded boy had been broken when she ran away with Michael Meadowes. Her mother had been disowned and cut off from all family funds, her parents hadn’t spoken to her since, and Doe found herself the target of many a taunt from several the Slytherins from her mother’s old circle.

Under the desk, her nails dug into the palms of her hand, and her knuckles turned white. Pasting a sunny smile on her face she looked up at Evan and tilted her head, “Don’t worry about me Evan. My health is just fine,” she said. “But, you know, I read a great article last week that I think you’d enjoy about old wizarding families. Something about how they keep the lines pure,” she shook her head thoughtfully, “Say, do you have any cousins who’d be willing to take you on, Rosier?”

The Slytherin’s face reddened as Arabella guffawed next to her. The rest of her Hufflepuff classmates watched on in fascinated horror as the Slytherins hissed angrily. Rosier’s dark eyes glinted dangerously and his hand twitched towards his pocket, no doubt towards his wand. Doe inched towards her bag where she had placed hers when she left the Great Hall and Arabella stiffened. Luckily, whatever he was thinking was interrupted by the arrival of Professor McGonagall who swept through the door in a whirl of emerald robes and a stern call to attention. Those who hadn’t yet found their seats moved quickly to sit down.Doe let out a deep breath as Evan moved away but remained aware of his heavy gaze boring into the back of her head.

“Are you insane?” Arabella asked her in a harsh whisper as McGonagall started her lecture on vanishing spells.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Doe whispered back out of the corner of her mouth, careful not to let Professor McGonagall see her talking.

“Rosier looks like he wants to murder you,” her friend continued, glancing back discreetly. “Actually, he looks like he wants to cause you the most unimaginable pain before he feeds you to a starving manticore and sticks around to watch.”

“Honestly, Arabella, don’t worry too much. I can handle Rosier.”

Arabella opened her mouth again but was quelled by a sharp look from McGonagall. She shot a look at Doe that screamed that she wanted to continue their discussion after the lesson. Still feeling the burning gaze in the back of her head, Doe shook it off and concentrated on Professor McGonagall’s firm voice as she demonstrated wand movements.

* * *

It wasn’t until later that the four girls were in their dormitory that they had a chance to talk about it. Doe was sat quietly on her bed, reading before dinner, when Arabella, Sylvie and Lottie tumbled into the room. Immediately, Sylvie and Lottie raced through the door and launched themselves onto Doe’s bed, peppering her with questions. Arabella followed them at a more sedate pace before perching herself delicately on the edge of the bed.

“Evan Rosier is a right tosser,” she said plainly.

Doe laughed. “I know,” she assured her. “He’s hassled me since we were first years.”

“Has he really?” Sylvie asked, pretty face screwed up in confusion. “How come none of us have ever noticed?”

“I don’t think we’ve ever spent so much time together,” Doe flushed, avoiding their eyes.

“Yes, yes, and how silly was all of that!” Lottie exclaimed, bouncing up onto her knees. “All that nonsense about needing to do homework all the time.”

“Forget about that,” Arabella said, “Is it a regular thing that the Slytherins bother you?”

“It’s not so much the Slytherins, not all of them anyway, just the ones that hate muggles,” Doe corrected her.

“So all of them?” Arabella said dryly.

“Come on, Arabella, Jacqui Urquhart in sixth is quite nice, and isn’t Lily Evans best friends with Severus Snape?” Sylvie pointed out.

“Didn’t stop him calling Sarah Roberts a mudblood last week now, did it?” she scowled. “Or using that nasty curse on Remus Lupin.”

“Either way,” Lottie interjected. “We’re not here to discuss the merits of Slytherin house. I want to know about Doe.”

“Oh fine then,” she folded under their questioning. “It’s not a secret at all but my mother was a Selwyn,” she said, explaining her parent’s backstory. “Rosier hates me because I’m a half-blood, my mother because she’s a blood-traitor, and my father because he’s muggle-born. And my grandparents would rather I didn’t exist because in their eyes I should be a Nott, or an Avery, or a Lestrange,” she shuddered.

“How did we go five years living with you and knowing none of that?” Arabella asked, incredulous.

Before Doe had a chance to answer, Lottie and Sylvie had thrown themselves back onto the bed and were clutching their hands to their hearts. “Oh, Doe,” Lottie cried, “that is so romantic. Your mother gave up her whole life for her one true love!”

“I don’t blame her, I’ve seen your dad at the platform, he’s well fit,” Sylvie said slyly.

Doe burst into laughter, and threw her pillow into Sylvie’s face, all four of the girls devolving into fits of laughter as they whacked one another with Doe’s pillows. Eventually, Sylvie called them all to a stop.

“Okay, okay, enough,” she said breathlessly, hand up in surrender. “I think we can all agree that Jones has an advantage here.”

The accused beater looked at them all triumphantly. “All that domination has worked up an appetite,” she said, getting to her feet. “Dinner?”

The other three all agreed, straightening their clothes out before heading down to the Common Room. Doe was immediately comforted by Hufflepuffs warm and cosy atmosphere. The soft yellow lights highlighted the comfortable couches and inviting nooks and crannies. Being in the Hufflepuff Common Room was like stepping into your grandmother’s house, filled with love and acceptance. Well, what she imagined a normal grandmother’s house to be like anyway.

“Oh look, there’s Henry,” Sylvie said brightly as they entered, skipping off to where Henry was standing with his mates.

“I thought she liked Black?” Doe whispered to Arabella.

“Black’s a fantasy,” Arabella explained. “Henry’s the cute boy who holds her books when they walk to class.”

Doe watched the two together and examined the way Sylvie flicked her blonde hair over her should and laughed daintily. Henry, for his part, looked dumbstruck. His mates snickered behind their hands.

“Come on, you lot!” Sylvie called them over, “we may as well all head down together!”

And that was how Doe found herself entering the Great Hall, for the first time surrounded by her housemates, Arabella almost glued to her side.

“Don’t want to give Rosier any opportunities,” the other girl explained with narrowed eyes directed towards the Slytherin table.

“Forget about it, Arabella, truly,” Doe pleaded. “I’m not afraid of him.”

“If there’s one Hufflepuff trait I hold in high esteem it’s loyalty Meadowes,” Arabella said firmly, “and you’re my friend so if that snake wants to have a go he can go through me first.”

Doe nearly stopped in her tracks at the easy way in which Arabella claimed her as a friend. No hesitation, or questions about why she had been distant for the last four years, just calm acceptance.

“Come on,” Arabella said, “I can see some Shepherd’s pie left and I am not missing out tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and review.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a review, if it pleases you. It would certainly please me.


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